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Clicking on the "Make Favorite" button at the top of any team page will add that team to your list of favorites.

Accessing Favorites
Once you have chosen at least one favorite (or if you already had a favorite), you will have a new menu option "My Team". This menu will give you quick access to all of your favorite teams.

There is also a new "My Teams Page", in the "My Teams" menu, click the option "My Teams (Favorites) Page", this will take you to the "My Teams" page where yoy can get a quick overview of your teams. Clicking on any of the teams listed here will take you to that teams page.

Managing Favorites
On the new "My Teams Page", click the "Edit My Teams" button. You can delete any of the teams you no longer want to keep as a favorite.

Allen football News

Norm Hitzges was an out-of-work TV sportscaster when KERA-FM (90.1) offered him $15 for an hour of Saturday morning radio airtime back in August 1975. Hitzges grabbed the money and on April 9 was off and running on what has become an unparalleled sports-talk run along the Dallas-Fort Worth radio dial. As if anyone needs to be told, at 71, he’s still going strong as the mid-morning host on...

This is a Michael Porter moment. It is an early morning in late May, and you have stepped inside a large community center in suburban Minneapolis. Porter, a 16-year-old from Columbia, saunters through a side door, his lithe, 6-foot-9 frame drifting across the floor and sleepily finding its way to a layup line.Just hours earlier, Porter awoke at the crack of dawn and caught a flight to...

Only a junior, Columbia basketball star Michael Porter has Mizzou's and KU's attention

iJobs, an internship program, gives special education students experience in the workforce.

Program gives students real on-the-job training

Paula Burkes Business Writer pburkes@oklahoman.com | Jul 26, 2015

When Eddie Wrenn, general manager of Raising Cane’s restaurant in northwest Oklahoma City, agreed to host a field trip for special education students of Deer Creek High School, it led to the hiring of some of his best employees.
“We treated the outing as a working interview, and sort of a day in the life at Cane’s,” he said. “Then, the hair on the back of my neck stood up when I realized I could hire some of those students to help keep our restaurant clean during our busiest times.”
One student — Jack Fry — stood out, Wrenn said. “He showed tons of enthusiasm,” running from job to job, cleaning off tables, sweeping the floor, emptying trash cans and picking up the parking lot.
Wrenn subsequently hired three students with disabilities, including Fry, who has speech and hyperactivity challenges from being born 15 weeks early.
This summer, Fry, 18, is working 15 to 20 hours a week through iJobs, an internship program sponsored by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services in partnership with Francis Tuttle and Moore Norman technology centers, and funded by the Galt Foundation. The program’s 23 participants are paid minimum wage.
“The cool thing about Jack is as soon as he’s done with iJobs, he’ll be employed here and actually get a raise,” Wrenn said.
"Customers love him,” he said. “Though it’s not part of the job, Jack holds the door open for people, and he has a built-in panache to know when to move out of customers’ way.”
At Norman Regional Hospital, Deanna Christian, coordinator of food nutrition services, is equally pleased with iJobs intern and cafeteria assistant Savana Frederickson, a returning junior at Norman North High School who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and some developmental delays.
“She’s a real asset, cleaning up around the salad bar, stocking cups and lids, sanitizing tables and sweeping around them when they’re not full of patrons,” Christian said. “She has a work ethic you don’t see in everyone her age. The only thing you have to tell her is when to slow down and have lunch.”
Frederickson said she mostly likes the good feeling she gets from having a job, and plans to buy new school clothes with the money she’s made. Fry is saving some of his salary, but spending some on video games.
Jack’s mother, Mary Jane Fry, said Jack’s first job is helping him mature.
“It’s showing him he can make a difference in life and in himself,” she said. “He’s very smart. We’re not planning on him drawing disability benefits; we expect him to earn more.”
Eric Frederickson said he and his wife, Robin, after having a son, purposefully adopted a special needs child as their way of giving back to society. Born to a drug addict, Savana at the time of the adoption was 18 months old and not talking.
“Today, she’s on an IEP (individual education plan) at school, but she makes some excellent grades,” he said.
The iJobs program includes one week of classroom instruction, where students learn how to dress for work, write resumes, interview, manage money and more.
“People with disabilities deserve a chance to work and provide a living for themselves,” said Bonnie Allen, a DRS vocational rehabilitation specialist who with Terrisha Osborn coordinates the iJobs program in the northwest Oklahoma City/Edmond and Moore/Norman areas.
With her own invisible disabilities, Allen knows all too well. Diagnosed at age 8 with Type 1 diabetes, she 16 years ago had eye surgeries for diabetic retinopathy.
Before she learned to manage the disease, she lost her peripheral vision and had a real fear of going blind.
Meanwhile, Osborn’s father is a paraplegic. He was injured in a car accident when she was 5.
“His disability didn’t stop him from coaching my softball and basketball teams, and my brother’s football team,” Osborn said.
Both specialists earned graduate degrees in vocational rehabilitation; Allen at East Central University and Osborn at Langston University. The schools offer the only programs in the state.

It’s been a rough week. We lost Bob Barry Jr., someone we all knew and seemed like always was part of our lives.
The memorial service Friday at Crossings Community Church was historic. The biggest funeral most of us could remember. More dignitaries than empty seats.
The Barry family designed a service dedicated to laughter and good memories. Mission accomplished. It’s just what Oklahomans...

Bob Barry Jr. stories will help a hurting state

By BERRY TRAMEL | Jun 26, 2015

It’s been a rough week. We lost Bob Barry Jr., someone we all knew and seemed like always was part of our lives.
The memorial service Friday at Crossings Community Church was historic. The biggest funeral most of us could remember. More dignitaries than empty seats.
The Barry family designed a service dedicated to laughter and good memories. Mission accomplished. It’s just what Oklahomans needed. The tonic for BBJ’s family is not so simple, but hopefully the stories helped.
High school teammate Greg Blackburn told of BBJ streaking story through Norman’s Central Junior High in 1973, and if you don’t know what streaking is, ask your parents. Don’t google it.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother Frank Sims told of the Spanish textbook-burning ceremony when OU changed the liberal arts requirements and BBJ no longer had to pass Spanish to graduate.
Schoolboy friend Bob Naifeh told of the snowball BBJ landed upside the head of a toupee -wearing assistant principal.
Several others told similar tales. I told of BBJ, as a high school senior, petitioning the Norman School Board in 1974 to allow sophomores to move up to the varsity, which was not allowed in Norman’s mid-high system at the time, so that a great sophomore could play point guard for the Tigers. Which meant the heir apparent point guard would go to the bench. That heir apparent was Bob Barry Jr.
But my favorite stories Friday were of the old days at Channel 4, when BBJ worked for his dad and always seemed to be in trouble.
Channel 4 anchor Linda Cavanaugh told of BBJ, in the 1980s, reporting that Barry Switzer had been dismissed as the OU football coach, with the plan to immediately reveal, “April Fool’s.” Except a director told BBJ his time was up, and he threw it back to a co-worker without that vital piece of information.
Big Bob Barry, as he was called around the newsroom, lambasted BBJ and said, “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t fire you.”
Replied BBJ, “I’m your son?”
Kevin Ogle, who with Cavanaugh and meteorologist Mike Morgan formed with BBJ a landmark quartet for the last 20 years, said, “Nobody could stay mad at Bob Barry Jr. Well, Big Bob could.”
Robert Allen, who worked with the Barrys in the ‘80s and ‘90s, told of Ogle’s bachelor party, in which a group of employees rode around in Channel 4’s double-decker bus and things got a little out of hand. The details were told in a house of worship, so I guess they’re fit for a family newspaper. Let’s just say that BBJ consumed quite a bit of liquid and never needed a pit stop, thanks to the back door of the bus.
The next morning, Allen managed to oversleep and miss his flight to Kansas City for Big Eight basketball media days. He trudged into the office that afternoon and told Junior, “Bob Senior’s going to kill me.”
Responded BBJ, “Get in line.”
Turns out the party bus antics had been discovered and the news was out. BBJ and Allen commiserated about what would happen the next day, what they called Black Monday.
When Big Bob arrived at the office, he glared at them, pointed at BBJ and said “YOU FIRST!” He pointed at Allen and said, “YOU SECOND!”
Allen could hear the first conversation through the door. A series of “What were you thinking?!” “The reputation of the station.” “Your whole career could be ruined.”
BBJ was suspended for two days and told, “When you come back, Mister, you better have your head on straight.”
BBJ trudged out and told Allen, “I’m going home.”
Said Allen, “Yeah, I heard.”
Then Big Bob ripped into Allen. “I’m going to get you the biggest damn alarm clock in history. Don’t oversleep an assignment again. You’re a professional, son. I don’t know what to do with you. I had to suspend your brother for two days.”
And Allen was overjoyed. He had just been called BBJ’s brother.
“So guess what,” Big Bob went on, “You have to work with me the two days. And let me tell you something, your brother got the better end of the deal.”
Van Shea Iven was on the Channel 4 sports staff for 17 years, starting in 1989, and became one of BBJ’s greatest friends.
Iven told of working part-time at Channel 4 and applying for a full-time position that came open.
“Do you have any idea what the opportunity is for you right now?” Big Bob asked.
Said Iven, “Absolutely I do. A chance to work with the best and most respected and the most-watched sportscast team in the state of Oklahoma.”
No, said Big Bob. “It’s much, much greater than that. I’m going to hire you. You’re my man. You’re going to be the No. 4 guy.”
They walked out into the sports area. BBJ and Robert Allen were sitting at their desks. The sports team’s No. 2 guy and No. 3 guy.
“Robert had a bag full of peanut M&M’s,” Iven said. “He was tossing them in the air as high as he could. Bobby was about five yards away, sitting in his chair, seeing how many circles he could do before catching them in his mouth.
“I knew exactly what Senior was trying to tell me. Those two boobs over there are pretty sure to get fired. You could go from No. 4 to No. 3 to No. 2 by the end of the week.”
But Kevin Ogle was right. You couldn’t stay mad at Bob Barry Jr., and decades later, BBJ left Channel 4, left our living rooms, left our sports landscape, only by leaving this Earth.
I hope you feel better. You usually did after spending time with BBJ.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.

The day started in the office of a United States Senator. The day ended with a waterfront seafood dinner in beautiful Annapolis, Md. In between I walked through the theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot and through the room where he died, 150 years ago this April. I discovered why people say “It’s a small […]

D.C. travelblog: From a Senator's office to a President's death bed

Berry Tramel | Jun 18, 2015

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The day started in the office of a United States Senator. The day ended with a waterfront seafood dinner in beautiful Annapolis, Md. In between I walked through the theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot and through the room where he died, 150 years ago this April. I discovered why people say "It's a small world" and why people say D.C. traffic is in the worst in America. I discovered some more gems about the U.S. Capitol.
If it sounds like quite a day on our D.C. adventure, believe me. It was.
IN EVERY HART THERE IS A ROOM
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I headed to the Capitol complex early Wednesday. Oklahoma senator James Lankford meets with constituents from 9-9:45 a.m. every Wednesday for coffee and informal conversation. Most congressional members try to be available to their electorate, but they're like everyone else. Jam-packed schedules. So Lankford sets up what amounts to office hours for his constituents.
The government has three senatorial office buildings just northeast of the Capitol. The Hart Senate Office Building, named for Philip A. Hart, a U.S. senator from Michigan from 1959 until his death in 1976. Hart was known as the "Conscience of the Senate."
Too bad he wasn't known as the conscience of architecture. Congress gets a bad rap for its own extravagance, but rest assured, it wasn't opulent in its office buildings.
The Hart Building is a fine facility, but it was built in the 1970s and looks it. Nothing at all like the regal government buildings down the hill.
Lankford's office is on the third floor -- and he was down in the basement until a few weeks ago. Rookies are banished to the basement, but Lankford, who ranks 92nd in Senate seniority, moved into the main building recently and really hasn't gotten everything in order. He apologized for the giant mirror hanging behind his desk, which he inherited from the previous occupier of the office, whose name will not mentioned to protect the guilty.
About 20 Oklahomans gathered to chat with Lankford. A pharmacist from Norman and his family (more on them later). Two ministers (more on them later). Three students in D.C. to compete in the National History Contest, one with her family of four from Broken Arrow plus her teacher and her teacher's mother, two more from Classen with their mothers. A farmers advocate from Hollis. A just-graduated Stillwater High School student and his mother. I think that was it.
Lankford's staff, all young, greeted us, then Lankford arrived and could not have been more accommodating. I like several things about Lankford:
He's down to Earth. No pretentiousness.
He's smart. I assume we have few dilberts in Congress, but Lankford seems exceptionally bright. A good friend of mine is a political reporter who likes Lankford for this reason -- ask him why he voted a certain way on a bill, or what's really going on with the bill, and Lankford actually knows. Doesn't have to ask an aide for a reminder or a briefing. Lankford knows. My friend says it's not the same with our other senator, Jim Inhofe.
Lankford is not a career politician. Six years ago, Lankford was running Falls Creek, the Baptist Youth Camp outside Davis, in the Arbuckle Mountains, and had been for more than decade. Now he's a U.S. senator. Mr. Lankford goes to Washington. We need fewer lawyers and fewer career politicians in Congress. Lankford fits the bill.
Lankford's wife, Cindy, is in town for the week, because his daughters are at Falls Creek. He said that's a treat, and I'll bet that's right. Lankford told us tries to get home most weekends, but otherwise, he's home only one week out of seven, plus most of August. The Senate session is almost year-round. The congressional members with families usually try to maintain such schedule.
Displayed just outside his inner office are five football helmets. Officials from Oklahoma Baptist University brought the first, then Burns Hargis brought an OSU helmet signed by Mike Gundy, and since then OU, Tulsa and UCO have joined the collection.
Lankford fielded questions about education and farming and world hunger. Pharmacist Brian Shaw's daughter, who's headed for the fifth grade, asked Lankford the best question -- where does he live while he's in Washington. (Lankford said he lives in a Row House, not far from the Capitol, with eight other congressmen, which sounds insufferable.)
I told Lankford I was pleased that his office was next to the office of Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts who graduated high school from Northwest Classen, and I was glad to see the Republicans and Democrats weren't separated in the building. Lankford gave us a quick tutorial on how things move slower in the Senate, by rule, and how members of opposing parties have to work together more than they do in the House. More common ground is needed in D.C., in my opinion. In D.C. and elsewhere. Lankford even told us about a bill he's working on with noted Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California. So that's encouraging.
The time went fast, and Lankford posed for pictures with each individual group. I thought it was cool. I know Congress has a well-deserved rap, but when you meet someone like Lankford, you get a little more faith in the system, and when you're in D.C., you get a little more pride about the process itself.
I left Lankford's office with a little more hope.
CAPITOL GAINS
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Lankford's office offered tours of the Capitol and Senate Gallery passes. The Dish still was in conference, until noon, so I figured I'd tour the Capitol again. See if a Senate intern could get me more places than what the official Capitol tour had.
And the answer was yes. Josh Jackson, an OSU student from Coweta and a really nice fellow, took a group of seven of us on the tour. Josh wore a light blue sportcoat; I told him he had no future in Washington, where everyone in politics seems to dress alike (dark suit).
Just getting to the Capitol was interesting. We went to the basement of the Hart Building, passed the catacomb offices from which Lankford had just escaped and walked under one of the other Senate office buildings. Then we arrived at the underground tram that zips people back and forth between the office buildings and the capitol. We had gone through security to enter the Hart Building, but they rechecked our electronics -- cell phones, primarily -- and we jumped aboard the small train.
At the Capitol, Josh went to get our admission tickets and had to stand in line. The Dish and I didn't stand in line at all on Monday. But while we waited, we visited the Capitol Exhibit Hall, which we had skipped Monday. There were some cool artifacts displayed. Maybe the best were the models of the Capitol through the years, from its original 1800 opening to its burning in 1814 by the British to its reconstruction and additions.
Then we headed up, and Josh gave us the same general tour as the regular tour, with some notable exceptions. Josh took us to the Will Rogers statue, which sits on the second floor, connecting the House Chamber to the Rotunda.
Remember, every state gets two statues in the Capitol. Oklahoma's are Sequoyah and Will Rogers. The latter was placed in the Capitol in 1939, four years after Rogers' death. Josh told us some cool things about the statue. First, it faces the House Chamber, because Rogers warned never to turn your back on Congress. And for some reason, it's become tradition that rubbing Rogers' shoes bring good luck. Sure enough, Rogers' bronzed feet have turned to gold, as people rub them. Presidents walk down that corridor on their way to the inauguration; Josh said D.C. lore is that six straight presidents have rubbed the feet of Will Rogers.
Josh also took us into two fabulous rooms we didn't see on the official tour, although I think we could have gone if we had just known to find them. The Old Supreme Court Chamber was a beautiful, intimate room, restored in 1975 to how it looked from 1810-1860. The Supreme Court moved in 1860 to the former Senate Chamber, and the room was converted into a law library. After the Supreme Court left the Capitol in 1935, the Old Supreme Court Chamber was divided into four rooms and used by the joint committee on atomic energy.
We also toured the old Senate Chamber, which was used from 1819-1859 by the Senate, then was home to the Supreme Court from 1860-1935. Beautiful and ornate and much more intimate than the current Senate Chamber.
Then the tour was over, but we were free to go to the gallery. That required more security, including turning in your cell phone and all electronics. No photos, no cell phones, no nothing. The Congressional chambers are fairly serious places. So we checked our cell phones, went up an elevator and walked through some halls before again going through security. Then we were ushered into the gallery, what amounts to the balcony.
The chamber was mostly empty except for officials at the front, doing whatever they do. We couldn't see every Senate seat, but there couldn't have been more than five senators in the room. When we sat down, Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski was talking about immigration, telling success stories about young, illegal immigrants. While she talked, Jim Inhofe came in and sat down by her, and later they had a conversation. Which again, to me, was symbolically encouraging. We need more dialogue between the parties.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, Virginia senator, then started speaking, but we couldn't see him, and I figured I had seen enough to get inspired. So out I went. Down the hall, down the elevator, back to the cell-phone holding room, out the doors and into the sunlight of a free nation. It had been a good day already.
FORD'S THEATER
It was a little after noon, and the Dish got out of her conference at noon. I texted her before relinquishing my cell phone to the United States Senate, asking if she wanted to grab a cab and meet me at Ford's Theater. We had tickets to tour the shrine at 1:30 p.m.
I jumped in a cab myself and we met almost at the same, about 12:15. Too early to enter the theater, so we walked across the street to a deli and got a sandwich. Cosi, is the name of the place. Sort of like a Panera Bread. It was decent and popular.
Then we went back to Ford's Theater, which is located a few blocks north of the National Mall, basically in downtown D.C.
Ford's Theater sits in the middle of a city block on 10th Street. It was a Baptist church for the first half of the 19th century, but the church sold it, and John Ford turned it into a theater in 1863. It's estimated that the Lincolns attended Ford's Theater a dozen times.
We were disappointed to learn that the theater, as is, is not original. After Lincoln's assassination, the government decreed it should no longer be an entertainment venue. It was converted into a warehouse and office building. In 1893, part of the building collapsed, and 22 people died. The site mostly languished until 1955, when Congress approved a study for its renovation. In 1968, Ford's Theater reopened as a performance hall and national historic site.
You generally have to purchase tickets in advance, which we did Monday, for timed-entry. You enter and descend into the basement, where there's a Lincoln museum. I've been to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., and it's hard to top that. The Ford's Theater museum has some notable displays which kept the Dish interested, but it's best served to history buffs. The Civil War timeline, with Lincoln's many concerns over leadership and generals, is fascinating. I stayed there an hour and felt like I had completed a Civil War history course.
The only thing I missed was a good-sized exhibit on the conspirators, John Wilkes Booth and Co. But they have hourly presentations in the theater itself, and it was time to go. So went ascended back into the theater, and people filled up most of the 661 seats in the place while a U.S. Parks ranger took the stage and told the story of the theater and the night of Lincoln's murder.
Even though the theater is a complete restoration, it was quite eerie to be sitting in a seat, looking at the private box where the Lincolns sat 150 years ago, and the stage where Booth leaped to and suffered a broken leg after firing the fatal shot.
After the presentation, you walk across the street and get in line to enter the Petersen House, which is where Lincoln was taken after the shot and where he died. The Petersen House is part of the historical site, and you tour three rooms recreated to look like the night of April 14, 1865. The front parlor is where Mary Todd Lincoln sat much of the night. The adjoining room is where Washington police superintendent Almarin Cooley Richards interviewed witnesses and ordered the arrest of Booth. And then you walk through the bedroom where Lincoln died. The original bed long ago was bought by a collector and now is in the Chicago History Museum. But the blood-stained pillow remains with the Petersen House.
Upstairs are more Lincoln exhibits, including the stories of the chase for Booth and his conspirators, their capture, arrest, trial and execution.
There is much information about Lincoln's family, which was fascinating and much-cursed. Two Lincoln children died young. Robert Todd Lincoln became a prominent American, serving a variety of presidential administrations. Robert Todd Lincoln was at the White House when his father was shot and rushed to the Petersen House. Robert Todd Lincoln was at the Sixth Street Train Station in D.C., serving as Secretary of War, and was an eyewitness when President James Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau on July 2, 1881. And at President William McKinley's invitation, Robert Todd Lincoln was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on Sept. 6, 1901, when McKinley was shot and killed by Leon Czolgosz, though Lincoln did not witness the killing.
I think most Americans have a general understanding of Abraham Lincoln's status in history. A rather unassuming political figure who was thrust into the darkest days our nation has seen. And he handled it with uncommon wisdom that cost him his life. You'll appreciate Lincoln even more when you walk the site where he was shot and where he died.
IT'S A SMALL WORLD
Back to Lankford's office. Twenty or so Oklahomans gathered. Out of how many? Four million. And I had connections to two of them.
The pharmacist I mentioned? Brian Shaw and his lovely family. Turns out Brian is a pharmacist at the Walgreen's in Norman, at Main and Flood. That's our Walgreen's. That's where we get our prescriptions filled. I went on the tour with the Shaws and they were a delight.
The ministers I mentioned? One of them was the Rev. Lori Walke, associate pastor at Mayflower Congregational Church. She was in town for a world hunger conference. You might remember her as Lori Allen, who played basketball at OSU a few years ago. She was recruited by Dick Halterman and she played for Julie Goodenough and Kurt Budke. Lori mentioned to me that I included her a few years ago in our annual Father's Day tribute and that it remains a great memory for their family.
And a few hours later, the Dish and I sat down in Ford's Theater for the ranger's presentation, and sitting right behind us was a woman who introduced herself as Robyn Turney, the mother of Tasha Diesselhorst, the Pond Creek-Hunter girls basketball coach who I wrote about during the 2014 state tournament.
Think about it. I'm 1,500 miles from, and within a few hours, totally random, I meet someone I wrote about a few years ago, the mother of someone I wrote about last year and my pharmacist.
Amazing. Robyn Turney, whose husband Randy is a long-time coach himself, is in town as part of the Oklahoma Youth Tour, sponsored by the National Rural Electric Co-Op Association. That's the group I've seen around town. They were at the airport when we flew out Saturday, they were at the FDR Memorial when we strolled through on Saturday evening, they were at the Museum of American History on Sunday and they were at Ford's Theater on Wednesday. If you didn't know any better, you'd think somebody was following somebody.
TRAFFIC? WHAT TRAFFIC
I've been saying all week that the horror stories of D.C. traffic are overrated. I haven't seen much of it.
I got into a cab at 8:10 a.m. Monday, wondering if I'd be able to get across town to Lankford's office by 9. I was in front of the building at 8:35. I found taxis easily and found them able to navigate. When we left the Petersen House, we needed to take a cab to Reagan National Airport to rent a car, and when a couple of cabs passed us, an unmarked cab stopped. Guy said he had his own service and would give us a ride: $15 to Reagan. We jumped in and he was great. Told us more stuff than any taxi driver had. Got us there quickly, even though it was rush hour.
We rented a car and set out for our hotel, to pick up our luggage. I thought it might take an hour, since it was right at 5 p.m. Rush hour. Took us 10 minutes to go the 31/2 miles. Nothing at all.
But then we found it. To get to Annapolis, you have to cross D.C. And getting through downtown was bad. Probably took us 25 minutes on L Street, which becomes Massachusetts Avenue, which becomes New York Avenue, which becomes Highway 50. And after we got out of downtown, the traffic worsened. We went two miles in about 50 minutes. I had no deadline, so I didn't get stressed, and I didn't know how else to go anyway. But it was brutal.
Finally, we got to the freeway of Highway 50, and it opened up quickly. It's only 30 miles from D.C. to Annapolis. It took 100 minutes, and we made the last 18 miles in about 18 minutes. But I now know what people mean.
ARLINGTON NATIONAL
One thing we hadn't seen was Arlington National Cemetery, and the Dish really wanted to see it. After getting our rental car at Reagan, en route back to the Melrose Hotel, the GPS told us to go a certain way. Including pulling off the Jefferson Davis Highway, which seemed dubious to me. Seemed like the Jeff was going to take us right where we needed to go.
But I dutifully turned off, onto Iwo Jima Boulevard in Arlington, Va., and suddenly, there was Arlington National. It wasn't the main entrance. But we were driving alongside the stone wall that surrounds the cemetery. We saw a turn-in, where we could park and walk in, and the Dish took a bunch of pictures of the gorgeous, serene place. The setting is idyllic.
We didn't see any of the famous graves, like the Kennedys'. But Arlington National isn't about fame. It's about service. And the white headstones, row after row, remind you of the ultimate price some have paid for our freedom.
DINNER ON THE SOUTH RIVER
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We're spending two nights in Annapolis, because we've always wanted to see the Naval Academy and the beautiful setting of the Maryland capital. It was 7 p.m. when we got checked in at the Residence Inn, and we were hungry, so our Annapolis exploration will have to wait.
But dinner didn't wait. We found a place called Mike's Crab House, which sits hard by the South River, and it was the best meal I've had in months. You can sit outside, by the water, and so we did. I don't like pretentious restaurants, and this wasn't.
You can always tell a good seafood joint by the availability of combination dinners. I don't mind paying a lot of money for a lot of seafood. I just don't like paying a lot of money for a little seafood. For instance, at Clyde's the other night in D.C., my dinner was $26 for two good-sized crabcakes and some kind of green bean dish. At Mike's on Wednesday night, my dinner was $28 for a good-sized crab cake, some scallops, several good-sized shrimp and a big piece of grouper, plus a baked potato and salad bar. Even better, I got the Dish's crab soup, because she didn't care for it. Might have been the best soup I've ever had. Thick. I like thick soup.
The weather was pristine, about 74 degrees, sitting on the water in the home of our nation's Navy, and the food was fantastic and I got to share it with the Dish, my favorite person in the whole world. I haven't had many better meals in my life. Truth is, this whole day was hard to beat.

SEATTLE — Monday may be the last game of the season for Houston, which needs a Memorial Day win to avoid being swept out of the Western Conference finals by Golden State.It may also be the last time Jason Terry, who is an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, suits up for the Rockets.However, the 37-year-old Seattle native has no plans of ending his 16-year NBA career this summer.“He wants...

Keyes, of Port Allen, La., received a scholarship offer from OSU just a few days before he planned to sign with Louisiana Lafayette

Oklahoma State football: 2015 offensive tackle Marcus Keyes opens up about last-minute opportunity to become a Cowboy

By Kyle Fredrickson, Staff Writer | May 23, 2015

With less than a week left until National Signing Day, Guy Blanchard got the call.
On the line was an Oklahoma State assistant with a scholarship offer and a question: Would Blanchard’s star senior offensive tackle, Marcus Keyes, consider switching his commitment from Louisiana Lafayette to the Cowboys?
“I started laughing,” recalled Blanchard, the head football coach at Port Allen High School in Louisiana. “I said, ‘Good luck coach.’”
As Blanchard left his office to deliver the news, he was reminded that Keyes’ turned down a scholarship offer from Missouri after committing to ULL in June. So, it’s easy to imagine his surprise after what happened next.
Blanchard said: “I walked over the classroom that he’s in and pull him out. I said, ‘Look, I don’t know if this means anything or not, but Oklahoma State, they have a formal offer on the table if you’re interested.’”
“He just looked at me and he goes, ‘The Cowboys?’”
Just a few days later on Feb. 4 — before ever setting foot in Stillwater — Keyes signed on to play at OSU.
“I wasn’t really nervous,” Keyes said. “Life is about taking chances.”
Keyes is confident his leap of faith paid off.
He was a Rivals rated two-star recruit, but with elite size at 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds. Keyes played 45 consecutive games over four years on offensive and defensive line at Port Allen. He didn’t miss a single start.
“It wasn’t luck,” Blanchard said. “He was tireless in the weight room.”
OSU offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said Keyes, the son of former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tyrone Keyes, has “a great, flat back in his stance, very flexible, strong with a big upside. Marcus has really impressed us on screen plays with his ability to run down and get to safeties and corners, which is not an easy task for offensive linemen.”
So, why did it take so long for the Cowboys to offer a scholarship?
OSU had shown interest throughout Keyes’ recruitment, but was the odd man out on its recruiting board, Blanchard said. But when junior college transfer Matt Kellerman — a 2015 offensive tackle from Butler, Kan. — left the program in January, a spot opened up. The Cowboys turned to their ace Louisiana recruiter, Eric Henderson, to make the late pitch for Keyes.
“He was very important,” Keyes said. “Without him, I would have been a little shaky about my decision.”
Keyes researched OSU on the internet. He also had discussions with a Port Allen assistant coach who had spent time in Stillwater, as well as others in the community familiar with the Cowboy football program. Keyes planned to wait until after signing day and an official visit to Stillwater before making his choice. But one day before the deadline, he told Blanchard: “Coach, I’m ready. I want to do this.”
When Keyes finally took that official visit, he says it exceeded his own high expectations.
“It was a great environment and the people were very nice,” Keyes said. “They treated me like one of their own. I was like, ‘Wow, this is a great place and it’s just like home.’”
Keyes reports to Stillwater for summer conditioning on June 3. Until then, he’s spending time with family to reflect on the next chapter of his football journey.
“He believes the same thing, that it was all part of a bigger plan,” Blanchard said. “All the things he was looking for and all the things that were important to him, it all lined up.”

WASHINGTON — NCAA vice president Kevin Lennon on Tuesday told the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics that schools should resist pressure to change the rules on what it means to be an amateur college athlete.“We know degree completion will best serve them in the long run,” Lennon said. “The introduction of pay may lead some — not all, but some — to not take full advantage of these...

Here's a look at AP's Indiana news coverage at 12 a.m.Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP-Indianapolis bureau at 317-639-5501, 800-382-1582 or indy@ap.org. For technical problems, call 800-457-6224. The AP technical center in Kansas City can be reached at 800-243-5752. Caryn Rousseau is on the desk. AP-Indiana News Editor Jeni O'Malley can be reached at...

BC-IN--Indiana News Digest 12 am, IN

Associated Press | May 13, 2015

Here's a look at AP's Indiana news coverage at 12 a.m.
Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP-Indianapolis bureau at 317-639-5501, 800-382-1582 or indy@ap.org. For technical problems, call 800-457-6224. The AP technical center in Kansas City can be reached at 800-243-5752. Caryn Rousseau is on the desk. AP-Indiana News Editor Jeni O'Malley can be reached at 317-515-6317 or jomalley@ap.org.
All times EDT.
A reminder: This information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Eastern.
Some TV and radio stations will receive shorter APNewsNow versions of the stories below, along with all updates.
UPCOMING:
HIV OUTBREAK-INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS — Genetic testing by federal health experts shows that 99 percent of the people infected with HIV in a southeastern Indiana outbreak have the same strain of the virus, which suggests the cases tied to intravenous drug use have only been percolating 6 to 12 months, state epidemiologist Pam Pontones said. Health officials are expected to update the number of cases on Thursday showing new cases plateauing. But the short period in which the Scott County outbreak developed could hold warning lessons for other communities. By Rick Callahan. Developing.
NEW:
— SEAT BELT ENFORCEMENT
— INTERSTATE CLOSURE
— SOLAR FARM-TAX BREAKS
TOP STORY:
SOUTH BEND-TRIBAL CASINO
SOUTH BEND — The chairman for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians who are seeking to build a casino in South Bend said Wednesday a new law approved by the General Assembly prevents Gov. Mike Pence from negotiating in good faith with the tribe on a compact, voiding the need for such an agreement. Tribal Chairman John Warren said the law specifying the process for the state to enter into a compact violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because it includes stipulations on what the compact must include. By Tom Coyne. SENT: 570 words.
AROUND THE STATE:
HIV OUTBREAK-INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS — State health officials are creating profiles of HIV and hepatitis C rates for all 92 Indiana counties to help local officials detect outbreaks of either disease and determine if they can seek help under a new needle-exchange law, a top state disease expert said Wednesday. State epidemiologist Pam Pontones told members of the State Department of Health's executive board that the state agency hopes to quickly complete work on those profiles, which will also include intravenous drug use rates for each county. By Rick Callahan. SENT: 480 words.
GREENSBURG-POLICE EVIDENCE
GREENSBURG — A southeastern Indiana woman who rose to police chief from dispatcher may spend a year behind bars after stealing $75,000 in cash from the property room to feed a gambling addiction while her marriage crumbled. Decatur Circuit Judge Tim Day sentenced Stacey L. Chasteen, 49, to a total of four years but suspended two years after she pleaded guilty to theft and official misconduct charges in March. With time reductions and good behavior, the former Greensburg police chief will likely be incarcerated less than a year, Day said. Chasteen also must repay the $75,000. SENT: 375 words, photo.
HARMONIE PARK-PAVILLION
NEW HARMONY — A private nonprofit has raised almost half of the projected cost of an outdoor education pavilion at Harmonie State Park to replace a nature center that now can barely hold a dozen visitors at a time. SENT: 300 words.
With:
— INDIANA STATE PARKS-APP: Students at Ball State University have created a free smartphone app that will let visitors create their own tours of Indiana State Parks. SENT: 130 words.
DIGITAL PLAY SCRIPTS
MUNCIE — Students at a Muncie high school are among the first in the country to test a digital interactive play script for the theater publishing company Samuel French. Muncie Central High School students are using iPads as they prepare to perform the Agatha Christie play "And Then There Were None." SENT: 290 words.
LONG-AWAITED DIPLOMA
ANDERSON — An Indiana woman who will turn 100 years old later this month has received her high school diploma. Lora Lois LeMond White Hardy needed just four credits to earn her diploma from Anderson High School in 1933 when she was forced to quit school. Tuesday evening, she received that certificate at the Anderson Community Schools board of trustees meeting. SENT: 290 words, photo.
EXCHANGE-SCULPTING HISTORY
TERRE HAUTE — Wabash Valley artist Bill Wolfe believes he has created his best work yet. The accomplished sculptor — whose recent artwork included a celebrated 15-foot tall bronze statue of Larry Bird outside Hulman Center — has finished a statue of the founder of Indiana's oldest city, François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes. By Dianne Frances D. Powell. Tribune-Star. SENT: 960 words, photos requested.
EXCHANGE-AUTISM'S CHALLENGE
MUNCIE — A scar twists along Christine Weida's left forearm. She has it covered with the sleeve of a white sweater. The scar is the only physical reminder of six years ago, how all of her organs were shutting down. How she spent weeks in the hospital. And how it was all caused by her son. By Emma Kate Fittes. The Star Press. SENT: 1,190 words, photos requested.
IN BRIEF:
— BABY IN TRASH: An Indianapolis woman whose co-workers found her baby gasping for air in a garbage can after she gave birth in a warehouse restroom has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. SENT: 130 words, photo.
— INDIANA UNIVERSITY-FRANKLIN HALL: A major renovation is underway on one of the oldest buildings at Indiana University. SENT: 115 words.
— SEAT BELT ENFORCEMENT: Indiana State Police are warning motorists they'll be cracking down on people who don't use seat belts. UPCOMING: 130 words.
— INTERSTATE CLOSURE: A bridge repair project will soon shut down a ramp linking Interstates 65 and 70 near downtown Indianapolis for two months. UPCOMING: 115 words.
— SOLAR FARM-TAX BREAKS: Western Indiana officials have given initial approval to tax breaks a California company is seeking for a solar farm that would generate enough power to light more than 1,000 homes. UPCOMING: 125 words.
SPORTS:
CAR--INDYCAR--INDIANAPOLIS-RISING AMERICANS
INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden won the IndyCar race at Alabama. Graham Rahal has been the runner-up in the last two races. Ryan Hunte-Reay ended the American drought at the Indianapolis 500 last year, and Ed Carpenter has won the last two poles at the 500. What in the world is going on? There's been a rising tide of Americans in this series. By Michael Marot. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos.
CAR--INDYCAR-INDIANAPOLIS-CASTRONEVES CRASH
INDIANAPOLIS — Helio Castroneves' car flipped over and went airborne Wednesday during a scary-looking crash in practice for the Indianapolis 500, less than an hour after he was docked eight points by IndyCar officials for a rules violation in last weekend's race. The Brazilian star was not seriously injured. By Sports Writer Michael Marot. SENT: 600 words, photos.
With:
— CAR--INDYCAR-CASTRONEVES PENALTY: The IndyCar Series penalized Helio Castroneves on Wednesday, docking him eight points in the drivers' standings and blaming him for causing a wreck during the opening lap of last weekend's Grand Prix of Indianapolis. SENT: 125 words, photos.
— CAR--INDYCAR-MANN CRASH — IndyCar driver Pippa Mann spun her car into the wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, the second scary crash of the day during practice for the Indianapolis 500.
FBN--COLTS-DEFLATEGATE
INDIANAPOLIS — Dwayne Allen was in an awkward position Wednesday. As a tight end for the Colts, he was trying to toe the company line on "Deflategate." As a player rep, he found himself defending Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. By Sports Writer Michael Marot. SENT: 550 words, photos.
FBC--GOLSON TRANSFER
Former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson would seem to perfect fit for several Southeastern Conference teams in need of an upgrade behind center. SEC rules could stand in the way of that happening. And with college sports leaders looking to change the graduate transfer rule, 'free agents' like Golson could become a thing of the past soon. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 800 words.
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If you have stories of regional or statewide interest, please email them to indy@ap.org. If you have photos of regional or statewide interest, please send them to the AP state photo center in New York, 888-273-6867. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact AP Customer Support at apcustomersupport@ap.org or 877-836-9477.
MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from Indiana and other states. The Marketplace is accessible /on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click "All" or search.

Bryla Barker and Logan Allen continue their athletic careers following signings Wednesday at Athens High School.Barker signed a college letter of intent to play basketball at Dallas Christian College.“I?like the atmosphere of it and I?thought it was pretty cool,” Barker said. “I bonded with the teammates and the coaches and I thought it was a really nice school.”Allen is staying in Athens to...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Doran Grant picked up the phone for his first interview session as a professional football player and almost immediately blurted out: "Steelers, bro!"The former Ohio State cornerback's youthful enthusiasm was palpable. Consider it fitting for a team whose secondary is in the midst of a long awaited makeover.Pittsburgh grabbed Grant in the fourth round of the NFL draft on...

Steelers grab Ohio State cornerback Doran Grant in 4th round

By WILL GRAVES, Associated Press | May 2, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Doran Grant picked up the phone for his first interview session as a professional football player and almost immediately blurted out: "Steelers, bro!"
The former Ohio State cornerback's youthful enthusiasm was palpable. Consider it fitting for a team whose secondary is in the midst of a long awaited makeover.
Pittsburgh grabbed Grant in the fourth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, hoping he can bring the same physical presence that helped him become a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season as the Buckeyes stormed to the national championship.
The 5-foot-10, 199-pound Grant is the second defensive back taken by the Steelers, who picked up Mississippi's Senquez Golson in the second round on Friday as the club tries to find capable bodies to replace the likes of Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Brice McCain. Polamalu and Taylor retired last month while McCain left for Miami in free agency.
"There concerns when you have so many starters leave you at once," Steelers secondary coach Carnell Lake said. "You want to make sure you replace them and make sure you replace them with quality players."
Golson tied a school record with 10 interceptions last fall for the Rebels. Grant had five picks for Ohio State, including two in a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. The Akron, Ohio native played at the same high school where LeBron James once roamed and joins several Buckeyes who have carved out nice careers for themselves in Pittsburgh, including defensive end Cameron Heyward and linebacker Ryan Shazier.
Heyward and Shazier were among the first people to reach out when the Steelers used the 121st pick in the draft on Golson. Heyward has often talked about how the set-up at Ohio State made the transition to the Steelers seamless. Golson expects the same.
"I love the history and the championship culture there," Golson said.
One that finds itself at a crossroads of sort during the offseason. The Steelers went 11-5 and won the AFC North last season almost in spite of their defense, which ranked 18th in points and yards allowed and 27th against the pass. Exit Polamalu and Taylor — who called it a career when it became apparent they were not part of Pittsburgh's 2015 plans — and McCain, who parlayed a solid year into a lucrative deal with the Dolphins.
In their place will be holdovers like William Gay and Cortez Allen and newcomers like Grant and Golson. Lake praised Grant's strength. Grant finished with 63 tackles last season played in 54 games in four seasons. That kind of versatility should help him find a spot on special teams while he learns the ins and outs of new defensive coordinator Keith Butler's 3-4 scheme.
Lake said there's a chance the Steelers could give Grant a look at safety, where Mike Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas are slated to start. Grant has never played safety in an actual game but is willing to learn if that's what it takes to see the field.
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AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah is ready to help Detroit's backfield. He's just not about to compare himself to the running back he is replacing."I think there's only one Reggie Bush," Abdullah said. "Hopefully I'm out to prove that there's only one Ameer Abdullah. Reggie, obviously, in my years of living, watching college football and watching Reggie throughout his career, he's one of...

Lions draft Nebraska RB Abdullah, Stanford CB Carter

By NOAH TRISTER, Associated Press | May 1, 2015

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah is ready to help Detroit's backfield. He's just not about to compare himself to the running back he is replacing.
"I think there's only one Reggie Bush," Abdullah said. "Hopefully I'm out to prove that there's only one Ameer Abdullah. Reggie, obviously, in my years of living, watching college football and watching Reggie throughout his career, he's one of the most electrifying guys I've ever seen, so I'm ready to prove myself that I'm doing things my own way."
The Lions drafted Abdullah in the second round Friday night, adding the Nebraska running back after they cut Bush earlier this offseason. That pick filled a need, and so did their next one when they took Stanford cornerback Alex Carter in the third round.
General manager Martin Mayhew did say the 5-foot-9 Abdullah is somewhat similar to Bush, stylistically.
"They are both guys that can function in space," Mayhew said. "Reggie is probably more developed as a receiver right now, but this guy is just a rookie right now and he will get better in that area. Both of them have similar traits."
Abdullah rushed for over 1,600 yards in each of his final two seasons with the Cornhuskers. Joique Bell rushed for 860 yards for Detroit last season, and Abdullah gives the Lions another option.
The Lions moved up eight picks in the third round in a trade with Minnesota, then drafted the 6-foot, 202-pound Carter.
"He's a physical guy," Detroit coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's certainly got size to match up with some of the big receivers we'll see in our division. Not only that, he's smart. He is a student of the game, works extremely hard at it and you can see he's got all the makings to be a true pro, so those are the things that jump out at you."
The Lions can use another good young cornerback after drafting Darius Slay two years ago.
Carter left Stanford after his junior season. His father Tom played at Notre Dame and was a first-round draft pick by Washington in 1993, essentially replacing Mayhew, who had left via free agency to play for Tampa Bay that offseason.
"I have known his dad for about 20 years now," Mayhew said. "The year I left the Redskins is the year he joined the Redskins so we know a lot of the same people."
Alex Carter, who is from Ashburn, Virginia, even shared an unusual connection he has with the Detroit GM.
"I actually came back, and the pastor that baptized me last summer told me that he also baptized Martin when he was playing for the Redskins," he said.
Not only that, Alex Carter also said his roommate this past year was the son of former Lions star Barry Sanders.
Earlier Friday, the Lions formally introduced guard Laken Tomlinson of Duke, taken the night before in the first round. His success is a source of pride for his native Jamaica.
"My dad is still there. He was really excited about everything that happened," Tomlinson said. "I still have extended family there and they were rooting for me. I would say the island is pretty happy right now."
Tomlinson moved to the U.S. from Jamaica when he was 11, after growing up in a crowded home on the Caribbean island.
"It was a simple life. Back then I didn't have the knowledge I have today but just looking back, we didn't have much at all," Tomlinson said. "It was a tough lifestyle. Just having the opportunity to make that switch — my grandparents moved to the United States before we did and they worked to get their kids, and their kids' kids, to the United States."
Tomlinson's mother was in attendance at his introductory news conference. He went to Lane Technical High School in Chicago before heading to Duke.
The Lions also introduced offensive lineman Manny Ramirez, whom they acquired in a trade with Denver on Thursday. Ramirez was drafted by the Lions in 2007 and remained with them before being cut in 2010 and catching on with the Broncos.
"When I got released from here it did hurt a lot," he said. "But at the same time I truly believe that it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. It put a lot of things in perspective for me."
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Online:
AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A couple more inches on his 5-foot-9 frame and Senquez Golson probably would have been long gone by the time the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the clock Friday night. A couple more big plays and Sammie Coates could have said the same.Defensive backs with a habit of finding their way to the football like Golson have a way of rocketing up draft boards and enjoying nice long...

Steelers begin revamping secondary, take cornerback Golson

By WILL GRAVES, Associated Press | May 1, 2015

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A couple more inches on his 5-foot-9 frame and Senquez Golson probably would have been long gone by the time the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the clock Friday night. A couple more big plays and Sammie Coates could have said the same.
Defensive backs with a habit of finding their way to the football like Golson have a way of rocketing up draft boards and enjoying nice long careers. So do wide receivers like Coates who are a threat to reach the end zone every time they touch the ball.
The number on a ruler didn't scare away the Steelers from taking Golson in the second round of the NFL Draft. Neither did videotape of the talented but raw Coates dropping catchable balls. When Coates was available in the third round, Pittsburgh added him to a stable full of wide receivers who came to town relatively unheralded but helped quarterback Ben Roethlisberger treat the team's offensive record books like a dry erase board in 2014.
Golson and Coates join linebacker Bud Dupree — the team's first-round pick — as the most likely rookies to make an immediate impact for the defending AFC champions next fall. There will be job opportunities aplenty in the secondary and at outside linebacker while Coates gets to learn from All-Pro Antonio Brown — a former sixth-round pick — and Martavis Bryant, a third-round pick a year ago who had eight touchdown receptions despite sitting out the season's first six games.
"You put the ball in his hands, he's going to make some yards," Steelers wide receivers coach Richard Mann said of Coates. "Put those pads down, he's going to make some tough yards."
Coates at least has the luxury of being brought along somewhat slowly. That won't be the case for Golson, who tied a single-season school record with 10 interceptions and was named a first-team All-American. Not bad for a player who pondered playing major league baseball coming out of high school and spent his college career trying to cover an unending stream of game-breaking wide receivers in the SEC.
"He's not one of the bigger corners but what I really like, what I measure DBs on is how tough they are," Steelers secondary coach Carnell Lake said. "They have to check that box for me and I think he'll do that."
Golson will have to if the Steelers want to cushion the blow left by the retirements of safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor and Brice McCain's departure for Miami in free agency. Dupree finds himself in a similar spot at linebacker, where the Steelers hope his edge rush skills will help offset the loss of Jason Worilds, who retired in March a week after his 27th birthday.
"This opportunity I have right now," Dupree said after being introduced. "I believe this is the right place for me."
It's a sentiment echoed by Golson, who turned down a lucrative offer from the Boston Red Sox to stick to football. He even flew to Boston as a high schooler to meet with Red Sox officials but left without signing a contract.
"I looked down at the paper, there was a million dollars on it," Golson said. "It was hard to turn down. But football is what I love do to. Football is in my heart."
And it's also in his future.
Lake praised Golson's versatility. Golson will likely work in the slot in nickel and dime packages as he transitions to the NFL. William Gay and Cortez Allen figure to be at the top of the depth chart when training camp opens, with Antwon Blake the most likely candidate to start in the slot. Given Golson's instincts— his 10 picks were one less than the Steelers managed as a team last season — he'll be given every chance to show what he can do.
In a division that includes Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. Green among others, Lake expects Golson to be targeted often. It's part of the league's very public initiation process.
"He's going to be challenged, just like they challenge all of our defensive backs," Lake said. "If you're 6-2 they're still going to throw at you. If you're 5-8 they're going to throw at you. He's going to have to prove himself."
Pittsburgh's defense struggled at times last season. The Steelers finished 18th in yards and points allowed and managed just 10 interceptions as a team. They won the division anyway but have made restoring some aggressiveness a priority during a vital offseason.
"With us getting Bud yesterday putting pressure on the quarterback and now we've got a ball hawk corner," Lake said. "It's going to work out pretty well."
___
AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State linebacker Justin Phillips is in prime position to become a starter this fall. Impressive, considering he’s just a sophomore. But Phillips was plenty familiar with the big stage before he arrived on campus. Case in point: the 2013 Texas 5A Division-I high school state championship game. Pearland, Phillips’ team, faced Allen […]

Oklahoma State football: Sophomore linebacker Justin Phillips is no stranger to the big stage

Kyle Fredrickson | Apr 27, 2015

[img url=http://blog.newsok.com/dittocontent/uploads/sites/11/2015/04/078eb1828ab258c43d23aec207b4f341.jpg]3648129[/img]
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State linebacker Justin Phillips is in prime position to become a starter this fall. Impressive, considering he's just a sophomore.
But Phillips was plenty familiar with the big stage before he arrived on campus. Case in point: the 2013 Texas 5A Division-I high school state championship game.
Pearland, Phillips' team, faced Allen at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Attendance was marked at 54,347 -- the largest crowd on record to ever watch a Texas high school football game.
“Ah man," Phillips recalled, "that was crazy."
Allen, led by star quarterback Kyler Murray (a freshman at Texas A&M next season), capped an undefeated season with a convincing 63-28 victory. But Phillips showcased why he was a highly sought after recruit, too. Near his own goal line in the first quarter, he stripped Murray and ran the ball 86 yards the other direction.
So eight months later when Phillips ran onto that same turf for the Cowboys' season opener against Florida State, the atmosphere wasn't too overwhelming. There were only about 7,000 more people in attendance than his last go-round in Jerry's World.
“It wasn't too much of a difference,” Phillips said.

Former Oklahoma State receiver Ra’Shaad Samples announced Sunday on Twitter that he will transfer to Houston.

OSU football notebook: Former receiver Ra'shaad Samples headed to Houston

COMPILED BY KYLE FREDRICKSON | Apr 27, 2015

Former Oklahoma State receiver Ra’Shaad Samples announced Sunday on Twitter that he will transfer to Houston.
Samples — a 5-foot-11, 178-pound sophomore from Skyline High School (Dallas) — redshirted his first season with the Cowboys. In 2014, he appeared in six games and caught three passes for 11 yards.
Samples was one of the most highly touted members of OSU’s 2013 signing class. He was a four-star rated prospect selected to the Under Armour All-American game. ESPN ranked him No. 19 among wide receivers nationally.
Samples will have two years of eligibility left after sitting out the 2015 season due to transfer rules.
Houston, a member of the American Athletic Conference, finished last season 8-5.
LINEBACKER JUSTIN PHILLIPS NO STRANGER TO BIG STAGE
OSU linebacker Justin Phillips is in prime position to become a starter this fall. Impressive, considering he's just a sophomore.
But Phillips was plenty familiar with the big stage before he arrived on campus. Case in point: the 2013 Texas 5A Division-I high school state championship game.
Pearland, Phillips' team, faced Allen at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Attendance was marked at 54,347 -- the largest crowd on record to ever watch a Texas high school football game.
“Ah man," Phillips recalled, "that was crazy."
Allen, led by star quarterback Kyler Murray (a freshman at Texas A&M next season), capped an undefeated season with a convincing 63-28 victory. But Phillips showcased why he was a highly sought after recruit, too. Near his own goal line in the first quarter, he stripped Murray and ran the ball 86 yards the other direction.
So eight months later when Phillips ran onto that same turf for the Cowboys' season opener against Florida State, the atmosphere wasn't too overwhelming. There were only about 7,000 more people in attendance than his last go-round in Jerry's World.
“It wasn't too much of a difference,” Phillips said.
LINEBACKER DEVANTE AVERETTE GRANTED HARDSHIP WAIVER
OSU linebacker Devante Averette joined the football program in January 2014 with every intention to make an instant impact.
Averette — a former three-start rated junior college prospect from Ellsworth CC (Iowa) — was praised by his former coach, Josh Lattimer, for his versatility. And Averette arrived on campus when depth at his position was stripped thin.
However, a preseason knee injury kept him sidelined almost all of 2014. Averette recorded one tackle against Texas Tech and two against Iowa State. Then, his season was done.
But as OSU enters 2015 three-deep at linebacker for the first time in Mike Gundy’s head coaching tenure, Averette is back at full strength. He also remains a junior as he was granted a hardship waiver for last season, according to a team spokesman.
Averette, a Michigan native, gave an update on his status during spring camp.
On spring practice: “It’s been going well. It’s been very competitive at the linebacker position so I have to bring my lunch every day and just have fun. Everything is good. My knee is good. I’m 100 percent. I’m flying around. I feel good. The weather is good. It’s better than Detroit.”
On returning from his knee injury: “The most I learned from that was patience. My family and my faith just kept me going, just patient. I feel like every time I get injured or something doesn’t go my way I just have to be patient. That was the most valuable thing I learned.”
On the depth at linebacker: “That is what makes this defense this year so exciting. We have depth. We have guys with different body types that can do various things. It’s just exciting, I’m really excited to be a part of this group. I love it.”

A few National Football League players with MIAA connections have seen their name pop up in the transaction wires, while others will be impacted by moves made this offseason.The only MIAA player to change teams since free agency started is Cary Williams, who signed a three-year, $18M deal with the Seattle Seahawks. He played with the Eagles the past two years but was part of an offseason...

The award ballots are due Thursday, the day after Wednesday’s close of the regular season. Like the standings, plenty remains to be decided.So, for now, one man’s view at the moment, very much subject to change, of the NBA’s postseason awards.———Most Valuable Player (weighted ballot on 10-7-5-3-1 basis requires five names): 1. Stephen Curry, 2. James Harden, 3. Chris Paul, 4. LeBron James. 5....

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — 7:59 P.M.Duke pulled away from Michigan State with a dominant start to the second half, leaving just one question: Will the Spartans have anybody left by the end?The trio of guys they've been throwing at Blue Devils star Jahlil Okafor — Matt Costello, Branden Dawson and Gavin Schilling — all had four fouls with 9 minutes to go.On top of that, point guard Travis Trice briefly...

The Latest: Blue Devils closing in on national title game

By DAVE SKRETTA, Associated Press | Apr 4, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — 7:59 P.M.
Duke pulled away from Michigan State with a dominant start to the second half, leaving just one question: Will the Spartans have anybody left by the end?
The trio of guys they've been throwing at Blue Devils star Jahlil Okafor — Matt Costello, Branden Dawson and Gavin Schilling — all had four fouls with 9 minutes to go.
On top of that, point guard Travis Trice briefly slipped to the locker room after taking a shot to the — um, midsection. He returned to the floor a few minutes later.
Justise Winslow got off to a miserable first few minutes for Duke, but the freshman guard has been their best player ever since. He had 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting, and had a game-high eight rebounds at the under-8 media timeout.
The Blue Devils led 65-48 at that point.
___
7:41 P.M.
Grayson Allen may not look like a slam dunk champion.
He proved why he is Saturday night.
Often overshadowed by the Blue Devils' more touted freshman, the 6-foot-4 guard followed up a missed 3-pointer in the second half against Michigan State with a massive tomahawk jam.
The explosion may have caught some fans off guard, but not those who follow the team closely. Allen won the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk Contest and the Beach Ball Classic Slam Dunk title before he joined the Blue Devils.
Oh, he also was the 2014 Powerade Jam Fest slam dunk champion, jumping over teammate Jahlil Okafor to clinch the title. He joined former Blue Devil recruits Ricky Price (1994) and Gerald Henderson (2006) in winning the coveted dunk award.
___
7:35 P.M.
Duke is trying to make sure there's no second-half comeback this time.
After allowing Michigan State to make things interesting in their first meeting, the Blue Devils opened the second half of Saturday night's national semifinal by stepping on the gas.
Not only did they score the first six points to extend their lead to 42-25, they also brought any of their fans still sitting in a seat to their feet with some rim-rocking dunks. Jahlil Okafor provided one of them. Justise Winslow added another.
The Blue Devils have been able to drive to the basket at will, while the Spartans have still settled for outside jumpers. Their field-goal slump reached 3 for 22 spanning halftime before Travis Trice scored their first bucket of the second half with 18 minutes to go.
___
7:25 P.M.
The second half of Duke-Michigan State is underway at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Spartans will need to heat up from the field again to have any hope of a comeback. They finished the first half on a dreadful 3-for-20 shooting slump, with Branden Dawson going 2 for 8 and Travis Trice — one of the hottest players in the tournament and the East regional most outstanding player — just 2 for 6.
The Blue Devils figure to make things difficult for the Spartans, especially if they continue to hold onto the ball. They only turned it over four times in the first half.
One bright spot for Duke: Six points off the bench. That doesn't sound like much, but the Blue Devils have won games this season when getting nothing from their reserves.
It was Michigan State, the far deeper team, that got just two points from its backups.
___
7:05 P.M.
Duke is 20 minutes away from playing for a title.
Behind another big first half from Jahlil Okafor and some poised play from their guards, the Blue Devils rallied from an early eight-point hole to take a 36-25 lead over Michigan State.
The winner gets Kentucky or Wisconsin for the NCAA championship Monday night.
The Spartans began the game by hitting five of their first seven shots, but finished just 8 of 27 from the field. And their one player was hot, Denzel Valentine, appeared to turn his ankle in the final minute of the first half.
He was checked by a trainer, hopped around a bit and returned a moment later.
Okafor finished with 10 points to lead the Blue Devils. Perhaps most importantly, the star freshman did it without committing a single foul.
The foul trouble belonged to the Spartans, who put Duke in the bonus with more than 9 minutes left in the first half. The result? The Blue Devils went 12 of 16 from the foul line, while the Spartans were just 4 for 9 from the stripe.
___
6:50 P.M.
Michigan State is throwing waves of big men at Jahlil Okafor.
Perhaps the Spartans will run out?
Gavin Schilling and Matt Costello each had two fouls by the final media timeout in the first half, and they weren't exactly being effective slowing down Duke's star freshman anyway. Okafor was off to a 4-for-6 start from the field, with nine points and two boards.
The Spartans have a big advantage in depth, but they have very little size. Schilling and Costello stand just 6-foot-9, a full 2 inches shorter than Okafor. The next-tallest players on the team are 6-7 forwards Trevor Bohnhoff and Colby Wollenman.
No wonder the Blue Devils have been able to turn an early 14-6 deficit into a 29-20 lead.
___
6:38 P.M.
Here come the Blue Devils.
After Michigan State raced out to an early eight-point lead, Duke punched back with a 14-2 run of its own to take the lead. Justise Winslow was the instigator, slashing to the basket as the Blue Devils tried to take advantage of their size in the paint.
All the driving also got Michigan State in foul trouble — the Blue Devils were in the bonus for the final 9-plus minutes of the second half.
The Spartans, meanwhile, began settling for jumpers. They wound up missing nine of 11 shots during a horrific stretch of offense, including an ugly airball by Branden Dawson and a 3-pointer that glanced off the side of the backboard by Tum Tum Nairn.
Winslow picked up his second foul with 8:42 left in the half, though. He took a seat on the bench, and that could prove pivotal. The Blue Devils have precious little depth.
___
6:29 P.M.
Behind each basket in Lucas Oil Stadium are student sections, with a few hundred from each school. But with the floor raised, the folks in the back, even when they stand, have to watch most of the game on the video board above the floor.
___
6:26
Jahlil Okafor was dynamic in the first meeting between these two teams in November, but it was when he was on the bench in foul trouble that the Blue Devils gained some separation.
He wasn't in foul trouble when he subbed out in the first half Saturday night, but the move to junior Marshall Plumlee sparked Duke anyway. The Blue Devils forced three straight turnovers, and Justise Winslow's three-point play got them within 14-11 at the second media break.
___
6:19 p.m.
It took a few possessions but Duke finally got Jahlil Okafor some touches and he produced a foul on Gaven Schilling, who at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, looks small next to the 6-11, 270-pound freshman, and an easy basket inside.
__
6:16 P.M.
Shooting is usually an x-factor at the Final Four, where the backdrop of a massive football stadium tends to throw off the depth perception of teams.
So much for that.
Michigan State and Duke both blistered the nets over the first few minutes of Saturday night's semifinal opener. The Spartans were 5 for 7 from the field, including a 3-for-3 start from 3-point range by junior guard Denzel Valentine.
The Blue Devils made their first three shots, but were done in by a pair of turnovers by freshman guard Justise Winslow. The last of them turned into Valentine's third 3, a shot from the top of the key that nearly hopped out of the cylinder before settling back through.
The Spartans led 14-6 at the first media timeout.
___
6:01 P.M.
Before the national anthem was sung, beautifully, by four student-athletes — one from each school — the public address announcer in the stadium said: "In the spirit of solidarity and united as one community ...'
___
6 P.M.
Duke and Michigan State are ready for their rematch — with a whole lot more at stake.
In one of the first games of the season, the two schools met just down the street at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the Champions Classic. The Blue Devils won that game, 81-71.
Jahlil Okafor announced his presence in a big way that night against the Spartans. The freshman forward and presumptive No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft played 30 minutes, scoring 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting in a dominant performance in the paint.
Duke raced to a 10-point lead late in the first half. Michigan State made a big second-half run but was never able to take the lead. The Blue Devils shot 54 percent from the field, turning 13 turnovers into 24 points, much to the chagrin of Spartans coach Tom Izzo.
___
5:35 P.M.
There were no surprises in the starting lineups for Saturday night's first semifinal.
Michigan State went with the quicker lineup it adjusted to after some early season struggles, which meant freshman Tum Tum Nairn joined senior Travis Trice and junior Denzel Valentine in the Spartans' backcourt. Gavin Shilling and Branden Dawson started at forward.
The Blue Devils are sticking with their three freshman phenoms — Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones — along with guards Quinn Coke and Matt Jones.
___
5:20 P.M.
The NCAA brought out some big names for its Final Four music festival, including Rihanna and country music acts Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band headline Sunday.
As for the national anthem, the NCAA kept things focused on students-athletes.
With the help of Amy Thornburg, a local vocal coach, officials selected one from each of the participating schools. The impromptu quartet got together for practice Friday night, and will take the floor to sing the anthem before a packed house at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The singers: Michelle Dear, a soccer player from Michigan State; Vitto Brown, a basketball player from Wisconsin; Deion Williams, a football player from Duke; and Kennedy Collier, a member of the Kentucky women's soccer team.
Brown is a sophomore forward who has rarely played of late. But he nevertheless had to head back stage quickly to prepare for the Badgers' semifinal against Kentucky.
___
4:45 P.M.
The festive atmosphere that built on the streets of Indianapolis made its way inside Lucas Oil Stadium, where Michigan State was preparing to face Duke and Wisconsin was meeting Kentucky in Saturday night's national semifinals.
As the NCAA likes to say, "The road ends here."
At the fan fest in in the massive convention center across the street from the stadium, the predominant color was red. Maybe Kentucky fans will catch up later, but Wisconsin supporters were winning the competition early.
This is the first time that Indianapolis has hosted the Final Four since 2010, when the Blue Devils knocked off upstart Butler to win coach Mike Krzyzewski's fourth national title.
Krzyzewski, by the way, has been wearing that title ring lately.
"Usually I don't wear a ring on my right fingers, but I did for the tournament," he said. "Not for luck or anything, just a constant reminder of what it is. To come back here, again."
Well, the Blue Devils are here. So is Big Blue Nation, chasing perfection. Thousands of Badgers fans. And the green and white of Michigan State, Wisconsin's Big Ten rival.
Let the games begin.

In a two-year span, Hiawatha High School has produced a pair of Division I athletes — and both picked out-of-state colleges.While Peyton Newell had a much ballyhooed recruiting process that led the football star to Nebraska, Emily Gartner's recruitment ended before her junior season ended.The RedHawks' basketball standout recently verbally committed to Missouri State, where she will play for...

J.J. Barea, generously listed at 6-foot, didn’t take long to shoot down the notion that it might be time for basketball to raise the rims from 10 feet.“No,” Barea said, shaking his head.He paused and then smiled.“That’d be awful for me,” he said.He isn’t alone in that sentiment. The rims have always been 10-feet high since James Naismith posted 13 rules for a game he called “Basket Ball” in a...

Under the new rule, teams are limited to 90 minutes each week of full contact in practice instead of an unlimited amount.

High schools: OSSAA votes to limit contact in football practices

By Jacon Unruh | Mar 25, 2015

Less contact is coming to high school football practices across the state after the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association board of directors approved recommendations Wednesday from the football advisory committee to protect the health of players.
Under the new rule, teams are limited to 90 minutes each week of full contact in practice instead of an unlimited amount.
“This is all in an effort to address the concern over head trauma,” OSSAA associate director David Jackson said. “Oklahoma coaches responded, and the board was pleased and I was pleased that our coaches took the initiative and didn’t want to fight it.”
The changes have been in the works since last summer when Kingfisher coach Jeff Myers attended a concussion summit with the National Federation of State High School Associations. This was a proactive move by the coaches.
“This head-trauma stuff at every level has gotten our attention,” Jackson said. “They’d rather do some of these things as opposed to waiting until legislation comes in and makes us do things we don’t want to do.”
The OSSAA also approved a new rule for the summer of 2016 that limits football teams to one team camp instead of two in hope of limiting injuries.
Other football changes include the addition of a “Zero Week” in which teams are now allowed to start a week earlier against out-of-state opponents in an effort to ease scheduling burdens. A team must take a bye week at some point in the remainder of the season should it play that week.
Eight-man football is also getting a makeover. The number of teams has been increased from 76 to 80, with Class B having 48 teams and Class C having 32. As a result, Class B will have an extra playoff round and finish a week later with Class 3A-A.
OSSAA TO SEND SURVEY TO 6A-4A SCHOOLS REGARDING PRIVATE SCHOOL RULE
The OSSAA board of directors voted to send a survey to member schools in Class 6A-4A regarding a rule Bishop McGuinness High School officials feel unfairly targets private schools and has been the focus of a legal battle.
McGuinness athletic director Gary Savely presented 33 signed petitions from Class 6A and 5A to the board Wednesday asking that no school be required to move up to Class 6A. The current rule forces private-school athletic teams to move up a class if they meet certain requirements in every sport but football.
Twenty-nine of the petitions were accepted due to four not being signed by the proper voting delegate from the school.
McGuinness has filed a lawsuit against the OSSAA regarding the rule, but the case remains in the discovery stages.
“Hopefully speed (up the process), get it out for a vote and if it’s approved it can be in effect for next year,” Savely said. “That’s what we’d like to see happen.”
OSSAA executive director Ed Sheakley said the board voted to include Class 4A in the survey since that class will also be affected by the change should a Class 5A school be forced to drop a classification.
If the surveys go well, a referendum ballot will likely be approved in April to be sent to member schools to make a change to the rule, which was already changed by member ship Wednesday to uncouple boys and girls teams should a school be forced to move classifications.
“I wish we could have done this a year ago, but it is what it is now,” Sheakley said. “I think it’s good what they’re doing. It’s still in the time frame McGuinness is asking for and it’s still going to do the same thing they want it to do.”
BASEBALL STATE TOURNAMENT SITES SET
The sites for the spring baseball state tournaments were unanimously approved with Class A and Class B being the lone classes to play at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Class 6A will play the entire tournament at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid. Class 5A will play its quarterfinals at Yukon and then both the semifinals and championship at Mustang.
Class 4A will also play its entire tournament at Mustang. Class 3A will play entirely at Edmond Santa Fe and Class 2A will play both its quarterfinals and semifinals at Shawnee before playing the championship at Santa Fe.
The Class 6A-2A tournaments are scheduled for May 14-16.
The small-school tournaments are set to play at Dolese Park and Edmond Memorial the first two days before playing at Bricktown for the first time ever in the spring for the championship games. Class A will spend both the quarterfinals and semifinals at Dolese Park.
The tournament is scheduled for May 7-9.
6A, 5A STATE BASKETBALL SITE BEING DISCUSSED
Jackson gained approval to seek bids from six locations to host the Class 6A and Class 5A state basketball tournaments the next three years.
The current three-year agreement with Oral Roberts ended following this season’s tournaments. It was the third straight agreement with the university. Jackson said ORU remains heavily interested in keeping the tournaments.
The OSSAA will seek bids from the University of Tulsa and BOK Center in Tulsa, but also explore moving the tournaments back to Oklahoma City with bid requests from Chesapeake Energy Arena, Cox Center and the University of Oklahoma.

First, the bad news. It snowed on us Monday night. I guess that’s your first clue that we didn’t make it back to Oklahoma. We hear it’s 80 back home. I can promise you this. It wasn’t 80 in Cleveland. Wasn’t Hot in Cleveland, even if Valerie Bertinelli stars in a show by that name. […]

Columbus travelblog: Wrong museum in Canton

Berry Tramel | Mar 24, 2015

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First, the bad news. It snowed on us Monday night. I guess that's your first clue that we didn't make it back to Oklahoma. We hear it's 80 back home. I can promise you this. It wasn't 80 in Cleveland. Wasn't Hot in Cleveland, even if Valerie Bertinelli stars in a show by that name.
See, that's the worse news. It snowed on us Monday night in Cleveland, and we're headed somewhere far worse. We're driving to Syracuse.
When the Sooners were sent to the Northeast -- Columbus first, which is Midwest from a historical perspective but in truth is in the middle of the state that is the gateway to the American northeast, and then Syracuse -- we decided that if OU won two games and reached the Sweet 16, we'd just stay. Economically, it made sense. We were scheduled to arrive back in Dallas at 7 p.m., then drive home, which would have made it around 10:30. We'd have flown back to Syracuse sometime around noon Wednesday, which meant leaving home at 10 or 10:30. So for one full day and one partial morning back home, we'd have needed another round-trip ticket to a place that's expensive and difficult to reach.
So we're driving to Syracuse, where the temperature was 11 degrees when I checked Monday morning. It looks like it might warm up into the 40s by the time the East Regional gets started. Which will be balmy by upstate New York standards. Until we get there, there are a few things to see along the way.
CANTON PALACE
The Pro Football Hall of Fame sits in Canton, about an hour south of downtown Cleveland, about 90 minutes north of Columbus. I'd been to Canton thrice, for the induction ceremonies of Tommy McDonald (1998), Barry Sanders (2004) and Troy Aikman (2006). I was scheduled to come in 1995, the year Lee Roy Selmon, Steve Largent and Tulsa U.'s Jim Finks were inducted, but I needed a pinch-hitter after a broken leg on the softball diamond the night before my flight.
So I'd been to Canton during the fussle and bustle of Induction Weekend, when the grounds are covered with literally tens of thousands of football fans. The induction ceremony just gets bigger and bigger. When I first came, the festivities were conducted on the Hall of Fame's veranda, which is where McDonald gave his famously goofy speech and tossed his Hall of Fame bust into the air to show he still could catch. Fans spilled out on the grassy knoll below the veranda. By 2004, the inductions had moved to Fawcett Stadium, which is adjacent to the Hall of Fame grounds and part of famed Canton McKinley High School. For Sanders' induction, I had a seat in the Fawcett pressbox. Two years later, the party had gotten so big, there was a pecking order for media, and I didn't make the cut. I wasn't in the pressbox; my work space was a room with televisions in the Hall of Fame, though I could roam the stadium during the ceremony.
So I was looking forward to seeing the Hall of Fame under a little more sedate conditions. I had come away impressed with the Hall on my previous visits. Even wrote that I thought it was better than the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I visited in 1976 and again in 2000.
But I don't know. Didn't wow me this time. Maybe because I had been so much. It's still good. Still a must for NFL fans. Just nothing spectacular.
And they got me started with a bad attitude on the opening kickoff. Tickets are $24, which is fine, and for $43, you get a two-day pass that includes admission to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which we plan to go through Tuesday. Seemed like a fine deal. But the gougers at Canton charge you $10 to park.
I can understand paying to park. If you're in Midtown Manhattan. If you're in an urban downtown. If you're on a college campus. If you're on Main Street in Hometown, America, and the meter needs a quarter. But $10 to park in a spacious lot on an Ohio hillside? The Hall of Fame fundamentally is a place of business. You are there to spend money. They are not doing you a favor by letting you come on their land. You are doing them a favor. Sort of like the parking charge at Frontier City in OKC. Drives me nuts.
Anyway, we went through the Hall of Fame, and here are my impressions on my first leisurely stroll through the Canton shrine:
* The most interesting room is the Hall of Fame Gallery, which includes the busts of all the inductees.
Do you remember the M*A*S*H episode where Frank and Hot Lips give Col. Potter an anniversary gift of a wooden bust of Potter? The Korean sculptor, who doubles as a trinket salesman, makes the Colonel look a little too Korean. I thought of the episode when I walked through the Hall's gallery. Some of those guys didn't look much like themselves.
We started a playing a little game. Someone would cover the name, and I'd try to guess who the inductee was. I got Frank Gifford, and some of the later guys. But man, this wasn't a tiptop job. Some of that can be blamed on the lighting. The gallery is darkened, with individual lights shone on each bust, but not a bright light. More like a pinball light. As if they don't want fans to be able to see the unlikenesses.
Some were OK. Tom Landry, sans fedora, looks just like himself. Jerry Rice. A few others.
* The best part of the Hall of Fame is the uniforms. From old to new, uniforms are the best part of football memorabilia. In fact, I have a suggestion for the Hall of Fame. Dedicate a room to the uniform progression of each team. Showing the Packers through the years. The Broncos. The Buccaneers. That would be the most popular exhibit by far.
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* Lots of artifacts, which generally don't do much for me. A football shoe in 1952 compared to a football shoe in 2012 doesn't do much for me. But you still find nuggets. Like this: Larry Allen's football helmet from Sonoma State, an sUs type logo on the helmet that looks exactly like the vintage oSu logo on Oklahoma State helmets from the '70s. Somebody was trademark infringing, I promise you. This would be the second OSU/Sonoma State connection I know. Our man A.C. Slater of Thunder writing fame grew up in northern California and attended Sonoma State before transferring to OSU.
* The Hall of Fame doesn't have nearly enough interactive video. Some, but not enough. You'd think you could go to a kiosk, punch up a team and view the 10 most memorable plays in Kansas City Chiefs history. But no.
There's a big theater room that repeatedly plays "The Road to the Super Bowl," a 17-minute video that is falseness in advertising. It's not the road to anything. It's the Super Bowl itself. A 17-minute video about the most recent Super Bowl, except I guess we're a little too close to last Feb. 1, because they don't have the new video completed. We sat through a 17-minute video of the Seattle-Denver rout of 14 months ago. I thought the video was good, but nothing you can't see on NFL Network several times a day.
A far better video was a seven-minute video shown while you're waiting in line to enter the theater room, this one about training camp. Lots of vintage footage of Vince Lombardi and Tom Coughlin and the like, from training camps through the years. I thought that was interesting.
* To show you how the nation is spiraling into a place it doesn't want to go, the bottom level is billed as an interactive gallery. Ryan Aber remembers it as a place where kids could go and throw football and kick footballs and such. Now, it's all video-game based. You don't go onto a set and feel like you're throwing a football in Lambeau Field. You sit down with computer controls and simulate on a screen. I swear, if our nation ever falls, it's going to be computer-based. A foreign power will infiltrate our computer systems and we won't even know it. We'll be sitting inside somewhere, not paying attention.
* I asked each of my pals what they thought of the Hall. Aber had been once, as a young adult. John Shinn had been as a kid. Guerin Emig never had been.
Aber: Good, since it had a lot of Packers stuff.
Shinn: Too much Packers stuff. (He's a Bears man.) "A lot of cool artifacts, and I like artifacts." Shinn liked Joe Namath's knee brace from Super Bowl 3 and seeing old logos, like a goofy Cleveland Browns from what I assume was the '50s.
Emig: "Helps to be a Steelers fan." He liked the game-worn jerseys.
Maybe it helps to have devotion to one team. Then you can revel in all the aspects of that team. All the guys took photos of the busts and memorabilia associated with their favorite team. I don't have a favorite team. I just like the NFL. Like the games. I almost always pick out somebody I want to win, but it's not like I'm a Packer fan, or a Ram fan, or a Giant fan. At the admission desk, they ask your zip code and your favorite team. I said, 73071 and whoever's playing the Redskins. I don't like Daniel Snyder.
* The gift shop is big-time good. I could spend a lot of money in there. Old-fashioned pennants and banners for each team were unbelievably cool. A vintage Joe Namath jersey. Lots of good stuff. But I'm never tempted. Didn't buy anything.
* The Hall seems to have moved away from some of its ties to the prehistoric era. When I first came 17 years ago, there was a ton of tribute to Jim Thorpe. I even wrote a column about it. Now a huge Thorpe mural adorns the wall and a big Thorpe statue sits in the rotunda, but that's about it. Thorpe was huge in Canton, because he signed with the Canton Bulldogs and helped found what became the NFL.
So all in all, I'd have to say I was disappointed. Maybe the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame will be better.
PRESIDENTIAL MISFIRE
When we were down in Columbus, something made us think of President William McKinley and made us assume he was from Ohio, even though we didn't really know. And I forgot to look it up.
Then we drove to Canton, and presto, it made sense. Canton McKinley High School. Then we saw the signs. McKinley Library and Museum. So I hatched a plan when we got to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I told the guys I would take the car, go through the McKinley museum, then come back and get them. That way, I'd see something I'd never seen, and we could save that ridiculous $10 parking charge.
But they talked me out of it. Said we'd go through the Hall of Fame, then go to the presidential library. OK. But we left the Hall at 3:50 p.m., looked up the McKinley library, and it closed at 4 p.m. Bummer.
As you know, I went to the Truman Library a couple of weeks ago in Kansas City and enjoyed it. And I knew quite a bit about Harry Truman. I don't know much of anything about William McKinley, other than he was assassinated and he was president through the Spanish-American War victory.
So I looked it up. Here's a quick history lesson. McKinley was the 25th president, serving from March 4, 1897, to September 1901, six months into his second term. He was assassinated in Buffalo. His vice president, Teddy Roosevelt, became president.
McKinley raised protective tariffs (I'm against that) and maintained the gold standard for the U.S. (I'm for that). Even cooler, McKinley was the last president to have served in the Civil War, after which he settled in Canton, practiced law and eventually was elected to Congress. McKinley eventually became Ohio's governor and ran for president in 1896, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
McKinley was generally a popular president, economic growth marked his years in the White House and the Spanish-American War brought the U.S. all kinds of territories, including the Philippines, Puerto Rico and even Hawaii to some degree.
But on Sept. 6, 1901, Leon Czolgosz, a second-generation Polish-American, who was part anarchist, gunned down McKinley in Buffalo. I wish I had gone through the museum, so I could know why we remember John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald but not Leon Czolgosz.
Next time I'm in Canton, I'll be at the McKinley library, not at the hall of fame that sits next to McKinley's football field.
OHIO HILLS
Eastern Ohio is not flat. It's hard to find level ground. Lots of rolling hills. The drive from Columbus to Canton was nice, with lots of scenic farms and the such.
After we left Canton, we drove through Akron, and the University of Akron's new football stadium (constructed in 2009) sits hard by the interstate. The Zips play at OU in September, and their football stadium is very nice. Looks much more traditional (which means better) than, say, North Texas' new stadium at the I-35 fork in Denton. Akron is coached by Terry Bowden, so there's that angle. Akron played in the historic Rubber Bowl -- Firestone Tires, remember, is headquartered in Akron -- but it was miles from campus and in need of constant renovation. So the school built a new stadium.
I've never heard that Akron had a big rival, but Kent State is only 10 miles away. I never realized Kent was so close to the Cleveland/Akron area. I looked it up, and yep, Kent State is the big rival for Akron. I guess I could have asked Darnell Mayberry; he once covered the Zips for the Akron Beacon Journal.
Traffic wasn't bad through the Canton/Akron area, despite it being 4-5 p.m. I would have guessed we'd have hit some bad traffic. Akron is a big place. The fifth-largest city in Ohio, trailing the big C's (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati) and Toledo. (Dayton ranks sixth, Canton eighth, Youngstown ninth). The Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, which I assume includes Canton, had a 2010 population of 703,000. And of course, Akron and Canton are included in Cleveland's metro population, which counts 3.5 million residents and ranks 18th in America.
We were headed to a Fairfield Inn in Streetsboro, Ohio, a southeast suburb of Cleveland. Got an $82 rate. We all had some work to do, and Ryan said he needed a drink before we checked in. So I looked it up, and there was a Sonic right across the street from our hotel. Sometimes clean living pays off.
LOCAL FARE
We had no dining knowledge. None. We could go chain, or go adventuring. So we went adventuring.
Walked into a place called Jerzees, a sports grill near the Hall of Fame. It was pretty desolate, but turns out a good choice. They had a chicken wing special; 49 cents each. I got eight wings and fries. Ryan and I ate for $15 combined. Can't beat that. And it was good.
For a late dinner, Guerin, Ryan and I drove down the road to a place called Rockne's. Sort of a local Chili's type place. Except I hate Chili's, so don't judge it by that. Yep, the place is named after Knute Rockne, for no good reason that we could tell. Rockne grew up in Chicago, got famous at Notre Dame and was killed by a plane crash in Kansas. Don't know what any of that has to do with Streetsboro, Ohio.
The girls working at Rockne's were nice. One of them's grandmother lives in Oklahoma, but she didn't know where. Which I thought was both sad and illuminating.
I had a steak salad, which was decent. I wish I had ordered the pork wings. I didn't know pigs had wings. Sort of gives new meaning to the term, when pigs fly. The place was decent. We could have gone to an Applebee's or a Ruby Tuesday, but what's the fun in that?
MORE STREAMING
In my hotel room, I watched the OU-Stanford women's game on my computer. The internet connection was hit and miss. When I put the game on full screen, it often got fuzzy. When I kept it partial screen, I had a tougher time seeing.
I also got a good email from reader Curtis Ray, who tried to educate me on watching games while travelling. I appreciated his suggestions and thought I would pass them on:
"I travel a lot and have the regular League Pass through Cox that also includes League Pass Broadband. Good hotel internet equals good quality playback. Obviously, your hotel’s internet was indeed terrible if it was buffering like you described. If the hotel is still using DSL, you’ll have issues. DSL is cheap compared to cable and FIOS, so many hotel owners choose it at their properties to save themselves money as well as force their guests to purchase their overpriced Lodgenet movies they offer instead of allowing guests to stream their own using Netflix, Hulu. Etc.
"Now, if the Thunder game is also being shown on NBATV that night, keep in mind that it will not be available on League Pass. Silly rule, but it has something to do with the NBA’s blackout policy. To combat this problem since the Thunder has several NBATV games, I purchased a SlingBox that you can easily connect to your cable or satellite box. I bought mine at Best Buy, but you can get it at other places as well. You can then connect remotely via broadband and stream, watch and control your own TV from anywhere, in HD. So if the Thunder is on NBATV, no problem. I tap into the Slingbox and turn the channel to Cox 722 and watch It on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
"Slingbox also has an app so you can watch your home TV from a smartphone or tablet. I sometimes watch local news, an OU or OSU basketball game, or pretty much anything I would watch at home that I cannot get on the hotel TV in whatever city I’m in.
"One important detail, though. Whatever TV at home that you hook the Slingbox up to will be the one you control remotely. I now connect mine to my home office TV cable box since no one in my family is watching that one when I’m gone. I used to have it on my bedroom TV, but my wife isn’t a big basketball fan and didn’t want to be forced to watch the Thunder game on that TV when I was connected and watching from out of town. (I still love her though.)
"I saw you mention watching the game and the limited screen size of your computer. I always bring an HDMI cable and connect my laptop to one of the hotel TV’s HDMI ports and change the input. Now, you can watch the game on league pass or through the Slingbox on your hotel TV! It’s now like having Fox Sports Oklahoma right there on your hotel TV. There are a handful of hotels that have disabled their remotes or use universal remotes that don’t have the input selector. But you can typically find it the side of the TV itself near the volume and power buttons.
"I especially love the league pass app while in Vegas. I can place very small wagers on various NBA games that night and watch them all in my hotel room upstairs instead of having to sit in the sports book with all the idiots. I also like that league pass archives the games, so if I fly or drive at night during a game, I can watch the archive from the start on league pass after arriving at my hotel…that hopefully has decent internet of course.
"I’ve been doing this double tiered League Pass/Slingbox method since 2005-2006 when the Hornets were here. Hotel internet was horrific than and is still awful at some properties today. However, if you are fortunate to stay at a hotel with a decent internet speed, you won’t have the buffering and start/stop/start problems."
Now that's what I call information. I'm going to be lost for awhile on Slingbox and HDMI cables and the such. But League Pass comes with an archive function? That means when I get to my hotel room Tuesday night, I can hook up and watch Thunder-Lakers from the beginning? It's like DVR on the road.
Great information, Curtis.

STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has been allowed little rest since the Cowboys capped the 2014 season with a Cactus Bowl victory against Washington. He can thank another offseason marked by an assistant coaching carousel for that. A quick refresher for how it all went down. — Cornerbacks coach Van Malone accepted the […]

Oklahoma State football: Seven things we learned from Mike Gundy's interview on Triple Play Sports Radio

Kyle Fredrickson | Feb 27, 2015

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STILLWATER — Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has been allowed little rest since the Cowboys capped the 2014 season with a Cactus Bowl victory against Washington.
He can thank another offseason marked by an assistant coaching carousel for that. A quick refresher for how it all went down.
— Cornerbacks coach Van Malone accepted the defensive coordinator position at SMU. He was replaced by former Houston running backs coach Dan Hammerschmidt.
— Offensive line coach Bob Connelly took the same job at USC. He was replaced by former Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford, who left shortly after for an assistant position with the San Fransisco 49ers. He was replaced by former Buffalo Bills tight ends coach Greg Adkins.
— Receivers coach Jason Ray was dismissed. He was replaced by former Montana State assistant Jason McEndoo, who is expected to work with offensive line and tight ends.
— Running backs coach Jemal Singleton left for the same job, plus special teams coordination, at Arkansas. He was replaced by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo.
Gundy was interviewed Friday morning by OSU sideline reporter Robert Allen on Triple Play Sports Radio. Here are seven things we learned from Gundy during their discussion:
1. Logistics can be an issue when inviting coaching candidates to Stillwater for interviews.
“When you’re in Stillwater, it’s not easy to get them in here to visit with them. You’ve got to get on a plane to get to Oklahoma City and Tulsa. It takes two hours to get them here, then the time you spend with them, then you’ve got to get them back to the airport in most cases the next day to get out of here. It just takes a little more time than what most of us are comfortable with.”
2. Respecting other programs in the hiring process was important.
“We could do some of this prior to recruiting. I don’t really believe in that. I don’t think it’s fair to take a coach off another head coach’s staff where a guy has recruited a young man for over a year and then all of the sudden he’s not there at the last second. At some point, I have kind of a soft heart there, and it probably works against us at Oklahoma State a little bit, but I think it’s the right thing to do.”
3. Singleton’s decision to take the Arkansas job was met with mixed emotions.
“He got a promotion in our world being he’s in charge of the special teams and is going to be the play caller in that area. We were happy and thrilled for Jemal and hate to lose him. He’s been really a good football coach and a loyal coach with his family to Oklahoma State football. But that threw me a curve ball.”
4. Athletic Director Mike Holder showed flexibility during the hiring process.
“He understood what my vision is for the future of Oklahoma State football, trying to stay on the cutting edge of different areas … There’s some financial restrictions at times, but for the most part without making it sound bad, he was willing to open the checkbook.”
5. Adkins and McEndoo will work together on the offensive front.
“(McEndoo) will come in and work with our tight ends and (be) another set of eyes on the field, and in game planning with offensive line play, and he’ll work with Greg .”
6. Arroyo is versatile enough to coach running backs.
“You bring a guy in to coach running backs that has got experience doing everything. He’s experienced in the NFL in the passing game. And most coaches that hang around the NFL have to be football junkies and have to understand the game very well.”
7. Although he can’t go out on the road, Wyatt is considered a Texas recruiting specialist.
“I’m not sure that there’s anybody in this part of the country that knows more about the state of Texas in recruiting, knows more about the high school coaches, the way things work. You’re talking about a guy that has coached at Oklahoma State, he’s coached at Oklahoma, he’s coached at Kansas, he’s coached at Texas … I would suspect that one year here and he’ll be back in the coaching ranks.”

Dean Smith died last weekend at the age of 83. Smith spent 37 seasons as the North Carolina basketball coach and became one of the giants in the game.
From Smith’s strategy (the Four Corners offense) to his social pioneering (Smith tried to integrate Tar Heel basketball for several years and finally did so in 1966 with Charlie Scott), from his coaching tree (which includes Larry Brown and George Karl) to his players (who include Michael Jordan and Billy Cunningham), Smith cast a giant shadow on college basketball.
Smith was born and raised in Kansas — Emporia and Topeka — the son of a high school coach. He went to the University of Kansas and played for legendary coach Phog Allen; was an assistant coach at KU, Air Force and North Carolina, then was promoted to the Tar Heels to replace Frank McGuire in 1961.
Here are excerpts from Art Chansky’s biography “Dean’s Domain: The Inside Story of Dean Smith and His College Basketball Empire.”
My parents taught me that if you swear, it’s a sign of a poor vocabulary. If I expect my players to be disciplined, then I have to be, too.
Joan (Smith’s sister) gave me a pep talk (in 1946) and helped me understand that I didn’t know it all and the world didn’t revolve around me. As a result, I think I went the other way, being overly modest about taking a compliment.
I was about the best athlete I would ever become in the ninth grade. I didn’t improve much after that. I was 5-10 and thought I’d grow to about 6-4. But I didn’t grow anymore at all.
Most young men interested in basketball back then would have chosen the University of Kansas. You just grew up that way.
His (UNC chancellor Bill Aycock) directions to me were make sure our players graduate; ensure they will not embarrass themselves or the university; no problems with gambling and no recruiting violations.
My pastor at Binkley Baptist Church, Dr. Robert Seymour, said my first job was to get a black athlete. Of course, I was well aware of that and wanted to, remembering my father’s experience back in Kansas.
I was only interested in his (Charlie Scott’s) basketball ability and whether he would do well in the classroom. One member of the Rams (booster) Club wrote and told me he would never give another dollar to the university. I looked it up, and he gave ten bucks a year.
Doing what’s right isn’t something to brag about. I didn’t do it to pat myself on the back 20 years later. I did it because I believed it was right.
You can’t control the world. If you treat it (basketball) like life and death, you’re going to be dead a lot.
I’ve told all the athletic directors who’ve been here since I was coaching to stay down the hall, and I’ll call them if I need them. Mack (Brown) and I are the only ones who make money for this department, anyway, and we support all the other sports. So all we need from an athletic director is more money for football and basketball, then leave us alone and we’ll make enough so all of you will be happy.
It’s (1976 Olympics) the only time we took a win-at-all-cost approach. I even ignored some players who broke rules, because we had to win. This was the only time I ever felt my job was to win. In fact, that’s what I was told.
James Worthy was the only high school recruit I was sure would be an outstanding college player, and his career was jeopardized by an injury. You never know what can take place. That’s why I like to call them all prospects.
I have never taken a phone call during practice in all my years of coaching. I have also refused to talk to anyone during our practice time. This would include alumni, the chancellor, or the athletic director. There are 22 other hours in the day when I can be reached.
Each player must make a great effort to appear enthusiastic. By acting this way, the player will often become enthusiastic, even if it was not his intention when he first took the court.
A team is most dangerous the game after it has hit rock bottom.
I’ve been saying (on the day of his retirement), maybe for the last eight years or so, maybe it’s time to go do something else. I enjoy basketball, I enjoy coaching basketball. It’s the out-of-season things that I haven’t been able to handle very well.

The Midshipmen were able to corral one of the state’s best dual-threat quarterbacks. Llanusa verbally committed just before National Signing Day; he signed his letter of intent on Wednesday.

High school notebook: Choctaw's Jonah Llanusa to play football at Navy

By Scott Wright and Jacob Unruh | Feb 5, 2015

Navy began showing interest in Choctaw quarterback Jonah Llanusa early on, and it extended a scholarship offer before he began his senior season.
And the Midshipmen were able to corral one of the state’s best dual-threat quarterbacks. Llanusa verbally committed just before National Signing Day; he signed his letter of intent on Wednesday.
Llanusa threw for 2,011 yards with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He rushed for 830 yards and 17 touchdowns. He led the Yellowjackets to their first playoff appearance since 1984.
UTAH STATE OFFERS LAWTON MAC’S FIAILOA
Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Josh Heupel is already looking to grab an Oklahoma high school football player in next year’s class for Utah State.
Lawton MacArthur offensive lineman T.J. Fiailoa picked up an offer Thursday from the Aggies, the Highlanders’ football Twitter page announced.
The 6-foot-4, 330-pound guard is already ranked highly on Rivals.com with a three-star rating and the No. 2 offensive lineman in the 2016 state class.
LAVERNE’S ALLEN STEPS DOWN
One of the most potent eight-man football teams in the state will be looking for a new coach.
Laverne’s Tim Allen, who guided his team to two state titles and one runner-up finish in the last three seasons, decided to step away from coaching this week.
Allen will remain at the school as a principal.
Laverne won the 2012 and 2013 Class B championships and lost to Alex in the finals this past season.
MCLOUD’S ALLAN LEWIS DIES
Allan Lewis was an institution on coaching staffs at McLoud for more than three decades.
Lewis recently died after 36 years on staff at McLoud. He worked as a head coach or assistant in football, basketball, baseball, softball as well as other sports when he had the opportunity to help out.

DALLAS (AP) — New SMU coach Chad Morris wasn't joking about his focus for recruiting targeting Texas and the Dallas area.All 22 of the Mustangs signings announced Wednesday were high school players from in-state. Morris was a high school coach for 16 years in Texas before moving on to the college ranks as an assistant.Morris was hired Dec. 1, and said it wasn't necessarily the fast recruiting...

New SMU boss Morris serious about recruiting home turf

Associated Press | Feb 4, 2015

DALLAS (AP) — New SMU coach Chad Morris wasn't joking about his focus for recruiting targeting Texas and the Dallas area.
All 22 of the Mustangs signings announced Wednesday were high school players from in-state. Morris was a high school coach for 16 years in Texas before moving on to the college ranks as an assistant.
Morris was hired Dec. 1, and said it wasn't necessarily the fast recruiting track for his first class that dictated staying close to home.
"Being a Texas high school football coach, I think right here in our own area, in our own state there are some unbelievable players," Morris said. "I don't want to drive past a player to get the same caliber of player in another state. It doesn't make any sense for us."
Topping the list for Morris was quarterback Ben Hicks of Waco Midway. Hicks enrolled in January after a brief visit to campus the weekend before the latest dead period started.
Morris coached some top Texas quarterbacks before going to Tulsa and then Clemson, where he was one of the nation's highest-paid offensive coordinators for one of the most prolific units in the country.
That was enough to persuade Hicks, who threw for more than 3,500 yards and 28 touchdowns last season.
"He's been extremely important in the process of the other high-profile players that we got on our roster," said Morris, who also landed receiver James Proche from nearby DeSoto while hiring that team's coach, Claude Mathis, as an assistant.
Elsewhere in Texas, UTSA landed Southlake Carroll defensive tackle King Newton, the son of former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl winner Nate Newton.
Newton is part of a huge class of 37 for UTSA coach Larry Coker, who won the 2001 BCS championship at Miami. The largest signing class in the program's four-year history includes former Oklahoma receiver Dannon Cavil and eight junior college transfers.
Houston officially added receiver Chance Allen, who played five games for Oregon during the Ducks' run to the first championship game in the College Football Playoff. Allen played at a Houston-area high school.
The Cougars are also adding quarterback Adam Schulz, a former Wisconsin high school star who played eight games for Utah before transferring.
Tight end M.J. McFarland is joining UTEP after transferring from Texas. He played at an El Paso high school.

Oklahoma State filled a major need by signing running back Chris Carson on Wednesday.Carson had previously committed to his homestate Georgia Bulldogs. He played for Butler (Kan.) Community College last season, where he ran for 994 yards and nine touchdowns. The Cowboys kicked standout Tyreek Hill off the team after he was arrested following a domestic violence incident, and Desmond Roland was...

RB Carson a big addition for Oklahoma St.

By CLIFF BRUNT, Associated Press | Feb 4, 2015

Oklahoma State filled a major need by signing running back Chris Carson on Wednesday.
Carson had previously committed to his homestate Georgia Bulldogs. He played for Butler (Kan.) Community College last season, where he ran for 994 yards and nine touchdowns. The Cowboys kicked standout Tyreek Hill off the team after he was arrested following a domestic violence incident, and Desmond Roland was a senior, leaving the team thin at running back.
Darrion Daniels, a defensive tackle from Dallas, is the star of the recruiting class. His father, Tony, played football for Texas Tech and the Green Bay Packers.
The Cowboys also got late commitments from offensive lineman Marcus Keyes of Port Allen, Louisiana, and running back Jeff Carr of Temple (Texas) High School.